Afghan War Push Will Add 1,400 U.S. Marines to Maintain Gains

The Pentagon will add 1,400 Marines to southern Afghanistan in the coming weeks as the U.S.-led coalition fights to prevent any erosion of advances against the Taliban before the planned start of a drawdown in July.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates authorized the addition yesterday and officials are completing notification of the troops and their families today, said Army Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Robbins, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon.

The forces are being added “to exploit and consolidate gains already achieved and apply pressure on the enemy during the winter campaign,” Robbins said. U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region, plans a formal announcement later today.

The 1,400 Marines would keep the total U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan within the number President Barack Obama authorized in December 2009, when he decided to add 30,000 U.S. forces and give Gates leeway for 3,000 more. The coalition aims to begin reducing forces in Afghanistan starting in July and hand over control to the country’s army and police in 2014.

The U.S. has 97,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting alongside almost 50,000 from 47 other nations. The campaign has focused primarily on ousting the Taliban from the most populous areas, including its heartland of Kandahar in the south and the neighboring province of Helmand.

The Obama administration’s latest review of progress in the war concluded last month that the military had gained ground against al-Qaeda and arrested the Taliban’s momentum.

The coalition will try to solidify those advances this year while pressing neighboring Pakistan to do more to eliminate havens where fighters retreat across the border.

(source:bloomberg.com)